Three children who vanished from their home in Beaver County, Utah, two years ago in October 2022 have been found alive, according to police.
The long search ended in a small desert town just south of the Arizona-Utah border after a tip-off in late August led authorities to their possible location. It was previously suspected by law enforcement that the children’s father might have “orchestrated the disappearance and subsequent hiding” of his kids, reports the Mirror.
The siblings were discovered in Fredonia, Arizona, a mere five miles from the state line, in the care of their grandmother.
Further inquiries by the Fredonia Police Department revealed that the children had been deliberately hidden away as relatives aided in obscuring their whereabouts. Arrests have been made of the children’s grandmother and aunt in relation to the 2022 case, while the father is still being sought by the police.
The Daily Mail has reported that children were found living in conditions likened to a cult within the Fundamentalist Latter-day Saint church, known for its illegal activities such as human trafficking and child marriages. The Fredonia Police Department issued a statement expressing gratitude for the support received during the investigation and confirmed the children’s safety with their mother.
“The Fredonia Police Department would like to thank all involved for their assistance. As of today, the children are safe with their mother as this investigation continues.”
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The small town of Fredonia, Arizona, with a population of 1,203, is recognized as the gateway to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Briell Decker, who claims to have been the 65th wife of cult leader Warren Jeffs at just 18, spoke about her experiences.
She lived in a 44-room mansion with Jeffs and his numerous other wives. Briell recounted, “I married him after he was the prophet, so he was already on the run. It (going on the run) was almost immediately. Yeah, it was September. And then I… my birthday was in November and I married him in January. So I turned 18. Yeah, I turned 18 so the fathers had a lot more say… kind of before that… erm.”
“When Rulon (Jeffs – Warren’s father) was the prophet, they could tell the prophet when their daughter was old enough or when they felt like they were ready… erm. But when Warren became the prophet, he called up the fathers and said, ‘Your daughter is ready’, so it put them in a really tight position cuz if they didn’t go along with it, they could lose all their children all at the same time.”
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